Recount livens up island election

VINEYARD HAVEN — Whoever said electoral excitement was the exclusive purview of national politics?

HILARY RUSS

VINEYARD HAVEN — Whoever said electoral excitement was the exclusive purview of national politics?

On Wednesday, May 2 was set for the elaborate process of recounting, by hand instead of machine, ballots in two contested Tisbury election issues.

A small phalanx of officials and vote counters will descend on the town hall auditorium at 2 p.m. that day to re-tally results after a dead tie, 690-690, in the town's April 15 election on whether to allow restaurants to sell beer and wine. Also up for a recount is the selectmen's race, in which Jeffrey Kristal won a seat by just 14 votes over incumbent Thomas Pachico.

For recounts, state law mandates detailed procedures, which were reviewed at a board of registrar's meeting Wednesday, said Joanna Jernegan, a staffer at the town clerk's office.

The process begins in the presence of authorities, as the police chief, town counsel, an election specialist and others watch while employees from the town clerk's office unseal the locked-up ballots. The public is also invited to watch.

Three pairs of counters will sit across from each other at a long table. On one side, one person in the pair will look at each ballot, calling out how the voter marked it. The partner, sitting across the table, will write down that result.

But the six counters aren't the only people involved. Observers — one from each side of the issue — are allowed to stand behind each counter, making sure they read out and write down the correct vote.

That means up to 12 observers could be watching over counters' shoulders for the beer-and-wine question. Another 12 observers could be watching the recount in the selectmen's race.

If an observer objects to a count, he or she can yell, "I protest," and the ballot may be taken by a constable to the four-member board of registrars located nearby. If a ballot is difficult to read, the board votes on its interpretation of the mark — yea or nay, for example. If there's a tie in the board's decision, the ballot goes back to the counter for determination. If an observer still objects to a decision by the board or a counter, that ballot is removed and placed into a special envelope in case there should ever be court action challenging the recount.

Not all ballots are subject to legal action — just those that have been challenged by observers during the recount, Jernegan said.